Eagle Days event allows visitors to see regal birds up close

Jan. 10, 2013

Pam Price, Dickerson Park Zoo's conservation and education director, holds Phoenix, who will be the star of Eagle Days at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center on Jan. 26 and 27. / Nathan Papes/News-Leader

At top: A bald eagle flies through the sky just north of Springfield on Wednesday. / photos by Nathan Papes/News-Leader

photos by Nathan Papes/News-Leader

photos by Nathan Papes/News-Leader

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It always seems to happen this way.

I pulled into the Lake Springfield parking lot Monday morning, eager to spot bald eagles soaring majestically overhead, snatching fish and ducks left and right with their wickedly powerful talons. Eagle Days at the Springfield Conservation Nature Center is just a few weeks away, and I wanted an early bird view to see wild ones up close.

Thirty minutes in, camera at the ready, I had spotted dozens of mallards, coots, Canada geese and gulls. But not a single eagle. Where were all of the birds that my research said regularly visited Missouri to frolic and feed in our unfrozen lakes and rivers?

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Reaching for the phone to convey the disappointing news to my editor, I lost the slippery device beneath the passenger seat. I excavated fragments of fossilized french fries, a few pens, my long-lost News-Leader employee badge and finally the phone.

I glanced out the car window. And there they were.

Regal aptly describes this magnificent bird. Not one but two of them, a white-headed adult and smaller juvenile eagle, still cloaked in its coat of brown.

They cartwheeled overhead for several minutes, magnitudes larger than any other bird nearby. Just as quickly as they appeared, they soon drifted into distant specks, following the James River’s winding path southwestward.

If you’re patient, you’ll see them again, most visible early in the morning as they stretch their wings in search of their daily meal, according to Kim Banner, naturalist at the Nature Center who is in charge of this year’s Eagle Days event.

“Usually we see at least three at Lake Springfield during the winter, but a couple of years we’ve seen five or more,” Banner said. “They’re migrant birds that hang out at the lake and make runs up and down the river. Sometimes late in the afternoon you’ll actually see them hunting coots and fish. That’s such a treat to see one grab a carp and see them struggle and swim it to shore where they eat it.”

During Eagle Days on Jan. 26 and 27, the Conservation Nature Center and Dickerson Park Zoo will feature two big birds— 24-year-old Phoenix, a bald eagle, and Aquila, an 11-year-old golden eagle — that visitors can see up close during hourly presentations.

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Banner said kids will have eagle-themed crafts to do, while others can try out a machine that measures a person’s grip strength compared to that of a mature bald eagle.

“The Springfield Boathouse will be open, and we’ll have six spotting scopes out that people can use to watch eagles,” she said. “And it’s all free.”

Eagles rising

After the pesticide DDT was banned in 1972, once-endangered bald eagles made a remarkable recovery and were removed from the endangered species list in 2007.

Pam Price, Dickerson Park Zoo’s conservation education director and lead eagle handler, said Missouri lost its population of nesting bald eagles through a variety of causes.

From 1981 through 1990, the state worked with Dickerson Park Zoo and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to bring 74 wild eagles in from northern states with healthy eagle populations. The birds were released at Mingo National Wildlife Refuge and Schell-Osage Conservation Area.

A radio collar on one of those eagles showed that the bird hadn’t moved in three days. Price said the eagle was found on the ground, too weak to stand.

“A bald eagle has to be able to stand on its food to be able to use its beak to feed,” Price said.

The bird was rescued, nursed to health, and because it became imprinted on its human handlers, could no longer be released into the wild.

That bird is Phoenix, Dickerson Park Zoo’s “ambassador eagle.”

Phoenix — a she — will be the star at Eagle Days. Weighing 14 pounds and with a wingspan stretching nearly 8 feet, she is in the prime of health and could possibly live nearly half a century.

“She eats trout donated by the MDC (Missouri Department of Conservation) fish hatchery near Branson, and we also feed her rats and bunnies, and her diet will soon include chicks,” Price said. “Because she’s protected, we have to follow very strict rules. She lays eggs, but every egg is marked, dated and collected. We also collect any of the main feathers she loses and send them to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They are illegal to possess, but Native American groups can requisition them for their ceremonies.”

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When Phoenix goes out in public, Price said she has to wear a heavy Kevlar glove to protect against the eagle’s incredibly sharp talons and strong grip. Joining Phoenix will be Aquila, a golden eagle rescued from a Missouri ranch after it injured its wing trying to eat a coyote that had been caught in a trap.

“Our public demonstrations help the public be more knowledgeable about the two kinds of eagles because an immature bald eagle can easily be confused as a golden eagle,” Price said. “Even though bald eagles have made a comeback in Missouri, Eagle Days helps educate the general population.”

“A lot of people don’t know that at one time there wasn’t even a single nesting pair of bald eagles left in Missouri.”

Today, about 200 pairs of bald eagles regularly return to nest in Missouri.

“This is a success story,” Price said. “Perhaps we can apply what we learned to other endangered species.”

About Eagle Days at Lake Springfield

• The event at Springfield Conservation Nature Center is from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 26, with hourly presentations of the zoo’s bald eagle Phoenix and golden eagle Aquila at the Nature Center’s main conference room. • Hourly presentations will be from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at the Nature Center. • Springfield/Greene County Park Board’s Lake Springfield Boathouse will be open both days, with spotting scopes available. The Boathouse will be open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Jan. 26, and noon-5 p.m. Jan. 27. All events are free.

Other places for winter eagle viewing:

• Fellows Lake north of Springfield • Lake of the Ozarks at Bagnell Dam access east of Bagnell • Eagle Bluffs Conservation Area on Route K southwest of Columbia • Lock & Dam 25 east of Winfield • Old Chain of Rocks Bridge south of I-270 off Riverview Drive in St. Louis • Riverlands Environmental Demonstration Area east of West Alton • Schell-Osage Conservation Area north of El Dorado Springs • Swan Lake National Wildlife Refuge south of Sumner • Table Rock Lake and Shepherd of the Hills Fish Hatchery southwest of Branson • Truman Reservoir west of Warsaw

If you find a bald eagle feather or dead bird

The federal Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act makes it a felony to shoot an eagle or disturb its nest. People convicted of killing an eagle are subject to a fine of up to $5,000, imprisonment up to one year or both. Subsequent violations may result in fines up to $10,000, two years in jail or both. It also is illegal to possess an eagle alive or dead, or any eagle parts or products without a permit. If you have information about an eagle death, should contact a conservation agent or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service immediately. Eagle killings can be reported in confidence by calling Operation Game Thief at 1-800-392-1111. — Missouri Department of Conservation